The Assam government on Thursday, 1 August, placed in the Assembly a detailed district-wise list of people whose names were excluded in the National Register of Citizens (NRC) currently being updated under the supervision of the Supreme Court.
The list showed that the percentage of names excluded from the draft NRC is higher in the districts bordering Bangladesh than other districts.
The state government's move came up in the House though the top court had earlier asked the State Coordinator of National Registration (SCNR) to submit a report in a sealed cover, terming the issue as a "human problem with great magnitude".
Assam Accord Implementation and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary laid the district-wise list of inclusion, rejection and non-inclusion of applicants' names in the NRC.
The list showed the total number of applicants was 3,29,91,385 and out of which 40,07,717 names, which is 12.15 percent, were not included.
According to the list, the percentage of non-inclusion of names in Bangladesh bordering districts of South Salmara was 7.22, Dhubri 8.26 and Karimganj 7.67.
In the non-border districts, the list showed Hojai and Darrang districts to have the highest non-inclusion rate at 32.99 percent and 30.90 percent, respectively.
"It is a matter of concern that the percentage of names excluded from the draft NRC is higher in the Bangladesh border districts than compared to the rest of the state," Patowary said.
The SCNR came under fire from ruling BJP members in the state assembly, who expressed doubt whether a correct NRC will be published.
The treasury bench members claimed that the rate of exclusion of NRC applicants in the districts bordering Bangladesh was less than the state average – 12.15 percent.
This is a proof that a section of the people residing in border districts of Assam has wrongly been included in the NRC, they said.
Patowary said, there has been gross misuse of the legacy data in various districts, particularly in the districts bordering Bangladesh.
"Due to this misuse, comparatively less number of people's names were left out of the draft NRC in those districts", the minister said in a statement.
BJP MLAs Debanana Hazarika, Shiladitya Deb and Numal Momin and AIUDF member Nurul Amin raised the issue during Zero Hour.
Only seven percent of the applicants from the Bangladesh border districts have been excluded from the NRC draft list, Hazarika said and asked why the sample verification as ordered by the Supreme court was not done.
Deb claimed that only eight percent names were dropped from bordering Dhubri district and its neighbour Barpeta, while 14 percent names were dropped in Karbi Anglong, which is not a border district.
Momin said while 5-7 percent of the names from the border districts were excluded from the draft NRC, 18 percent names of indigenous people were dropped from the list.
Under the Supreme Court's directions, the first draft of the NRC was published on 31 December 2017 and the final draft on 30 July, last year where 40 lakh odd people were left out.
The Supreme Court on 23 July extended the deadline for publication of final NRC by a month to 31 August.
“We want an error-free NRC that will include the names of Indian citizens and without the names of foreigners.”Chandra Mohan Patowary, Assam Accord Implementation and Parliamentary Affairs Minister
Assam, which had faced influx of people from Bangladesh since the early 20th century, is the only state having an NRC which was first prepared in 1951.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)